Charles Manson, mastermind of 1969 murders, dies at 83

LOS ANGELES — Charles Manson, who masterminded a string of bizarre murders in Los Angeles in 1969 that both horrified and fascinated the nation and signified to many the symbolic end of the 1960s and the idealism and naivete the decade represented, has died. He was 83.

Considered one of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, Manson died at a Kern County Hospital at 8:13 p.m. Sunday of natural causes, according to Vicky Waters, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Manson did not commit the murders himself; instead he persuaded a group of his followers to carry out the killings. The crimes received frenzied news coverage, because so many lurid and sensational elements coalesced at the time _ Hollywood celebrity, cult behavior, group sex, drugs and savage murders that concluded with the killers scrawling words with their victims' blood.

Los Angeles residents were terrified by the crimes. Before the killers were apprehended, gun sales and guard dog purchases skyrocketed and locksmiths had weeks-long waiting lists. Numerous off-duty police officers were hired to guard homes in affluent neighborhoods and security firms tripled in size.

Manson was an unlikely figure to evolve into the personification of evil. A few inches over 5 feet, he was a petty criminal and small-time hustler. And his followers _ dubbed the Manson family _ bore little resemblance to the stereotypical image of hardened killers. Most of them were young men and women in their early 20s, middle-class white kids, hippies and runaways who fell under the charismatic sway of Manson.

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Manson and four of his followers _ Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Charles "Tex" Watson _ were convicted of murdering actress Sharon Tate, the wife of movie director Roman Polanski, in their Bel-Air home on Aug. 9, 1969, along with four others.

Watson had been a high school football star. Krenwinkel a former Sunday school teacher. Van Houten a homecoming princess. And Atkins once sang in her church choir. Linda Kasabian, a pregnant 20-year-old with a baby daughter, who said she was asked to go along that night because she was the only one with a valid driver's license, testified against the others in return for immunity from prosecution. Atkins died in 2009 in prison; the others remain incarcerated.

Tate, 26, who was eight months pregnant, pleaded with her killers to spare the life of her unborn baby. Atkins replied, "Woman, I have no mercy for you." Tate was stabbed 16 times. "PIG" was written in her blood on the front door.

The next night they killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in Los Angeles' Los Feliz section. Manson picked the house at random, tied up the couple and then left the killings to the others. They cut "WAR" in Leno LaBianca's flesh and left a carving fork in his stomach and a knife in his throat. Using the LaBiancas' blood, they scrawled on the wall and refrigerator in blood "DEATH TO PIGS" and "HEALTER SKELTER," the misspelled title of a Beatles song. Before leaving, they helped themselves to some watermelon in the refrigerator, leaving behind the rinds.

"People were so terrified because these seemed to be murders without a motive," said lead prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, who died in 2015. "They weren't robberies or burglaries. It was so random. If you're not safe in your home, where are you safe? And these murders were particularly brutal. On the two nights there were 169 stab wounds."

The 9 {-month trial _ the longest in U.S. history at the time _ was as bizarre as the crimes.

A group of young female followers with shaved heads gathered outside the courthouse and conducted a 24-hour vigil for Manson. One morning Manson entered the courtroom with an X carved into his forehead and his followers soon did the same. During the trial, Manson jumped over his attorney's table and made a dash for the bench. While the bailiffs were dragging him out of the courtroom, Manson shouted to Judge Charles H. Older, "In the name of Christian justice, someone should chop off your head!" The judge began packing a .38-caliber revolver under his robe. Van Houten's attorney, Ronald Hughes, disappeared during the trial and was later found dead. Prosecutors suspected he was another Manson victim.

Bugliosi argued during the trial that Manson orchestrated the murders as part of a plan to spark a race war that he called Helter Skelter. Blacks would win the war even though, according to Manson, they were inferior to whites. Then he and his followers would survive by living underground near Death Valley and would eventually take over power. In a later trial, Manson was convicted in the slayings of musician Gary Hinman and Donald "Shorty" Shea, who worked at the San Fernando Valley ranch where the family lived for a time.

In 1972, the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment when the state Supreme Court abolished the death penalty. Since then Manson and his followers have been eligible for parole hearings. Only one of those convicted in the nine murders _ Steve Grogan, who was involved in the Shea shooting _ has been paroled. Atkins died in 2009 while incarcerated in Chowchilla.

Manson _ who had spent more than half of his life in prison before the conviction _ was housed at Corcoran State Prison since 1989. He broke prison rules dozens of times for violations including possessing cellular phones and a hacksaw blade, throwing hot coffee at a staff member, spitting in a guard's face, fighting, refusing to obey orders and trying to flood a tier in his cellblock. Long ago, he turned the X on his forehead into a swastika. He was denied parole 12 times and had numerous disciplinary violations. His last parole hearing was in 2012, which he declined to attend.

Doris Tate, Sharon's mother, became a victims rights advocate after the murders and helped collect more than 350,000 signatures on petitions opposing parole for Manson and his followers. After her death in 1992, her daughter Patti Tate appeared at Manson family hearings opposing parole.

More than 40 years after the mass murders, Manson _ whose wild-eyed stare was immortalized on a Life magazine cover _ remains a figure of fascination, a homicidal anti-hero for a new generation. Rock groups have played songs that he wrote. Merchants peddle T-shirts bearing Manson's likeness, as well as belt buckles, caps, necklaces, rosaries and cigarette lighters. Manson memorabilia is sold on the internet.

"Manson became a metaphor for evil, and evil has its allure," said Bugliosi, who wrote _ with Curt Gentry _ the best-selling nonfiction book "Helter Skelter" about the case. "People found him so fascinating because unlike other mass murderers who did the killings themselves or participated with others, Manson got people to kill for him."

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